The invention pertains to a tire inspection apparatus for the optical and especially for the interferometric inspection of tires, to a tire inspection system with a tire inspection apparatus of this type and a tire flipper, and to a method for the optical and especially for the interferometric inspection of tires.
A tire inspection apparatus is known from EP 1 043 578 B 1.
EP 2 026 056 A2 also discloses a tire inspection system.
When a tire is subjected to optical inspection, the tire is exposed to light, usually white light. The tire is then recorded by one or more measuring heads, each of which has an optical measuring system. By means of optical tire inspection, it is possible to determine surface defects on the tire, especially scratches, cuts, and/or creases and/or structural defects in the tire, especially bubbles and/or bulges. The defects can be determined by comparison with the areas adjacent to the defect where the surface of the tire is not defective and/or by means of comparison of the actual recorded tire data with previously established nominal data. The optical inspection of the tire can be carried out at ambient pressure. The housing of the tire inspection apparatus can be closed or open.
The interferometric inspection of tires is a relative inspection method, in which the surface contour of the tire in one state is compared with that in one or more other, different states. The tires are usually inspected in succession between one or more measuring heads at different circumferential positions. The measuring heads are positioned in such a way that one sector of the inside surface of the tread and/or of the external side wall can be observed. So that the complete tire can be inspected, the measuring head or heads are rotated section by section around the tire, so that in this way the complete circumference of the tire can be covered over the course of several successive inspections.
The previously known tire inspection apparatuses comprise a rotational axis for the measuring head or heads. There are also tire inspection apparatuses, however, in which it is the tire which is rotated. The associated amount of time required is currently responsible for the situation that, even though it is in fact logical and desirable to perform a complete inspection of new tires, such inspections are rarely done.